Whilst working on the electrics for our water pump and sitting in a shallow manhole in the garden, Annette arrived and walked around the immediate area and found our dog Badger clawing at a snake skin laying nearby. This in itself was no problem, but unknown to any of us until I had finished work on the electrics, in a wide crack of one of our troughs lay the real thing!!

So there it was languishing in this crack of the trough no more than 10 feet from where I was sitting. Having inspected the creature, but no too close up you understand, it is in the region of one or two metres long and has a beige coloured skin with diamond type design on it. I am not going to disturb it, as far I am concerned it can stay as long as it likes as long as it doesn't move of course!! Has anyone any idea of the species and whether it is dangerous to us mere humans?

Have a look here it might be listed [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

until i knew exactly what species of snake it is, i would not be sharing my garden with it. have you got a picture of the snake.

Is it any of these

You want to hope it's not one of the first three!

davshaz wrote:

Is it any of these

If it is any of these, do I make a run for the gate????

Get your man next door to have a look..and keep your dog well away from it!

All those snakes above are not venomous, as far as I know there are only 2 dangerous snakes in BG the Common Viper, or as it's known in the UK;
the ‘Adder'. This snake carries venom and will bite if it is picked up and maybe if it's stood on by accident. The Adder's venom however is quite week and can be compared with that of a Bee sting so there is usually no cause for alarm if bitten by an adder, but any snake bite should be checked out by a medical professional to confirm this. The Nose Horned Viper is closely related to the adder and can be similar in appearance. The venom of this beast is far more potent than that of the adder and an untreated bite from it will cause extreme pain and fever, in some cases death. When venomous snakes bite they do not always release venom, this is known as a dry bite. There are also factors which can weaken the venom, the snake's age, if it has used its venom before the bite, usually during its last meal. The snakes you are most likely to see in your garden are dependent on which part of the country your home is. As a general rule the common visitors will be;
the smooth snake, Caspian whip snake, European grass snake, the Aesculapian and the dice snake. All of these are harmless but apart from the grass and dice snakes they may bite if threatened. The grass and dice snakes love water, they love to swim and their diet consists mainly of fish, small frogs and tadpoles, and some may eat lizards and earthworms. If handled these snakes will not bite but they do have a unique defense. They will sometimes release a foul smelling liquid from glands in their abdomen. A second defense of these snakes is to play dead by turning themselves upside down and hanging their mouths open with the tongue out. Although they are not a common sight in the garden, the two venomous snakes of Bulgaria may be seen passing through.

I am told that there are 2 dangerous snakes in Bulgaria One i have seen and killed and one i have not.
The one seen and killed was after my friends dog when we were kennel sitting. It is a horned viper actually has a norn on its nose If you have this in your garden dispose of it It is dangerous

I went out in the garden with the camera to take a piccy of the creature and guess what . . . . it's only it's overcoat stuck in the trough, yes it had shed it's skin and left it the crack of the trough. So panic over, but the real thing maybe still in the garden waiting for us to walk by and ouch what was that comes to mind!!

So here for you intrepid nature lovers is a picture of the skin.

Don't Kill Them!
Snakes along with all other reptiles are protected by law in most countries and this is also the case in Bulgaria. It is a criminal offence to trap or kill these animals. Snakes in general are not interested in killing something which is too big for them to eat so if they are left alone then you will have no problems with snakes.

The Nose Horned Viper

Common Viper

We had one in the house this morning, just behind the back door! I was alerted by one of the dogs barking, and I nearly had a fit when I saw it.
I managed to get the dog out then shut the door. Husband was out for the day, so I phoned a friend who said he would come round. Meanwhile, I grabbed an empty plant trough and luckily I was able to trap it underneath. Friend duly arrived and we were able to get it into a sack and release it elsewhere. The dogs were going crazy! Not an experience I'd like to repeat, but it was only a grass snake, albeit over a metre in length.
Just hope it hasn't got any relatives still in the house! :shock:

I pulled one out of a hole in my house wall a couple of years ago..MIL saw it going in, alerted me, so I grabbed it by the tail and slowly drew it out..ended up being almost six feet long! So much for grass snakes not biting..this one got me three times (once on the hand and twice on my face) before I got it over the wall and into the creek!!! Growing up in Australia, I developed a healthy respect for snakes, but not a fear of them.